Aviation experts say bird-plane collisions happen daily. Nearly 200 people have been killed or injured since 1990 in accidents involving aircraft and wildlife. It is estimated that bird strikes cost military and commercial aviation over $2 billion each year due to damage and other costs.
Airports take a variety of measures to reduce bird populations near major airports. In a few cases, ground based avian radars are used to detect flying birds near aircraft approach and departure paths. Currently, most ground based avian radars consist of modified marine radars using a long narrow horizontal antenna that is rotated in the horizontal plane to provide 360 degree azimuth coverage. These antennas provide narrow azimuth beamwidths and wide elevation beamwidths. Almost no target height information is provided due to the wide elevation beamwidths.
Accordingly, it is the object of the present invention to disclose methods and apparatus which provide a new and improved low cost 3D avian radar with target altitude determination capability.